Data transmission method, terminal device, and network device

ABSTRACT

Provided in the embodiments of the disclosure are methods for transmitting data, a terminal device and a network device. One method includes: a terminal device receives semi-static configuration information sent by a network device, the semi-static configuration information being used for indicating an initial state of a duplicated-data transmission function of a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity corresponding to a Radio Bearer (RB), and the initial state including an activated state or a deactivated state; and the terminal device establishes a first RB according to the semi-static configuration information. The methods, the terminal device and the network device provided by the embodiments of the disclosure help to improve the reliability of data transmission.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/694,878 filed on Nov. 25, 2019, which is a continuation of PCTApplication No. PCT/CN2017/088659 filed on Jun. 16, 2017 and titled with“DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD, TERMINAL DEVICE, AND NETWORK DEVICE”, whichare hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

In a New Radio (NR) system, the demand on the reliability of datatransmission is higher, and thus how to improve the reliability of datatransmission is a problem that has been researched all the time.

SUMMARY

The embodiments of the disclosure relate to the field of communication,and in particular to methods, terminal devices and network devices fortransmitting data.

In view of this, the embodiments of the disclosure provide methods fortransmitting data, a terminal device and a network device to improve thereliability of data transmission.

A first aspect provides a method for transmitting data, which includes:a terminal device receives radio resource control (RRC) signaling from anetwork device, the RRC signaling being used for indicating an initialstate of a duplicated-data transmission function of at least one PacketData Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entity corresponding to at least oneRadio Bearer (RB), and the initial state including an activated state ora deactivated state; the terminal device establishes a first RBaccording to the RRC signaling.

The terminal device may receive switch information from the networkdevice, the switch information being used for indicating to switch astate of duplicated-data transmission of a PDCP entity corresponding tothe first RB. The terminal device may send data to the network deviceaccording to the switch information. When the initial state is theactivated state, the operation that the terminal device sends the datato the network device according to the switch information may includethat the terminal device receives indication information which is usedfor indicating a first Radio Link Control (RLC) entity and the terminaldevice sends non-duplicated data to the network device via the first RLCentity, the first RLC entity being among at least two RLC entitiescorresponding to the PDCP entity corresponding to the first RB.

A second aspect provides a method for transmitting data, which includes:a network device sends RRC signaling to a terminal device, the RRCsignaling being used for indicating an initial state of aduplicated-data transmission function of at least one PDCP entitycorresponding to at least one RB, and the initial state including anactivated state or a deactivated state.

The network device may send switch information to the terminal device,the switch information being used for indicating to switch a state ofduplicated-data transmission of a PDCP entity corresponding to a firstRB. When the initial state is the activated state, the method mayfurther include that the network device sends indication information tothe terminal device, the indication information being used forindicating a first RLC entity; and the network device receivesnon-duplicated data from the terminal device via the first RLC entity,the first RLC entity being among at least two RLC entities correspondingto the PDCP entity corresponding to the first RB.

A third aspect provides a terminal device, which includes an inputinterface, an output interface and a processor. The input interface maybe configured to receive RRC signaling sent by a network device, the RRCsignaling being used for indicating an initial state of aduplicated-data transmission function of at least one PDCP entitycorresponding to at least one RB, and the initial state comprising anactivated state or a deactivated state. The processor may be configuredto establish a first RB according to the RRC signaling.

The input interface may be further configured to receive switchinformation sent by the network device, the switch information beingused for indicating to switch a state of duplicated-data transmission ofa PDCP entity corresponding to the first RB. The output interface may beconfigured to send data to the network device according to the switchinformation. When the initial state is the activated state, the inputinterface may be further configured to receive indication information,the indication information being used for indicating a RLC entity, andthe output interface may be further configured to send non-duplicateddata to the network device via the first RLC entity, wherein the firstRLC entity is among at least two RLC entities corresponding to the PDCPentity corresponding to the first RB.

A fourth aspect provides a network device, which includes a processorand an output interface. The processor may be configured to determineRRC signaling, the RRC signaling being used for indicating an initialstate of a duplicated-data transmission function of at least one PDCPentity corresponding to at least one RB, and the initial state includingan activated state or a deactivated state. The output interface may beconfigured to send the RRC signaling to a terminal device.

The output interface may be configured to send switch information to theterminal device, the switch information being used for indicating toswitch a state of duplicated-data transmission of a PDCP entitycorresponding to a first RB. When the initial state is the activatedstate, the output interface may be further configured to send indicationinformation to the terminal device, the indication information beingused for indicating a first RLC entity, and the processor may be furtherconfigured to control an input interface to receive non-duplicated datafrom the terminal device via the first RLC entity, wherein the first RLCentity is among at least two RLC entities corresponding to the PDCPentity corresponding to the first RB.

These aspects or other aspects of the disclosure will become clearer andeasier to understand through the following descriptions about theembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an application scenarioaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an architecture diagram of a protocol ofduplicated-data transmission in a carrier aggregation scenario.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a method fortransmitting data according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates another schematic block diagram of a method fortransmitting data according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a terminal device fortransmitting data according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a network device fortransmitting data according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates another schematic block diagram of a terminal devicefor transmitting data according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates another schematic block diagram of a network devicefor transmitting data according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the disclosure will beclearly and completely described below in combination with the drawingsin the embodiments of the disclosure.

It is to be understood that the technical solutions of the embodimentsof the disclosure may be applied to various communication systems, forexample, a Global System of Mobile communication (GSM), a Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access(WCDMA) system, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a Long TermEvolution (LTE) system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system,LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), a Universal Mobile TelecommunicationSystem (UMTS), a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)communication system or a future 5G system.

Particularly, the technical solutions of the embodiments of thedisclosure may be applied to various non-orthogonal multiple accesstechnology-based communication systems, for example, a Sparse CodeMultiple Access (SCMA) system and a Low Density Signature (LDS) system,and of course, the SCMA system and the LDS system may also have othernames in the field of communication. Furthermore, the technicalsolutions of the embodiments of the disclosure may be applied tomulti-carrier transmission systems adopting non-orthogonal multipleaccess technologies, for example, Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM), Filter Bank Multi-Carrier (FBMC), GeneralizedFrequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM) and Filtered-OFDM (F-OFDM)systems adopting the non-orthogonal multiple access technologies.

In the embodiments of the disclosure, a terminal device may refer toUser Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a user unit, a user station, amobile station, a mobile radio station, a remote station, a remoteterminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wirelesscommunication device, a user agent or a user device. The access terminalmay be a cell phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol(SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), a handheld device with a wireless communicationfunction, a computing device or other processing devices connectable toa wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, UE in afuture 5G network, UE in a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network(PLMN) or the like. There are no limits made in the embodiments of thedisclosure.

In the embodiments of the disclosure, a network device may be a deviceconfigured to communicate with a terminal device. The network device maybe a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in GSM or CDMA, may also be a NodeB(NB) in a WCDMA system, may also be an Evolutional Node B (eNB oreNodeB) in an LTE system, or may be a wireless controller in a CloudRadio Access Network (CRAN) scenario. Or the network device may be arelay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearabledevice, a network device in a future 5G network, a network device in afuture evolved PLMN or the like. There are no limits made in theembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according to anembodiment of the disclosure. A communication system in FIG. 1 mayinclude a terminal device 10 and a network device 20. The network device20 is configured to provide a communication service for the terminaldevice 10 for access to a core network. The terminal device 10 accessesthe network by searching for a synchronous signal, broadcast signal andthe like sent by the network device 20, thereby communicating with thenetwork. Arrows shown in FIG. 1 may represent uplink/downlinktransmission implemented through a cellular link between the terminaldevice 10 and the network device 20.

At present, in NR researches, it has been agreed that a PDCP may supporta data duplication function, i.e., a data duplication function of thePDCP is used. As a result, the duplicated data corresponds to two ormore logical channels, and it is finally ensured that the duplicatedmultiple same PDCP PDUs can be transmitted on different physical-layeraggregated carriers, thus achieving a frequency diversity gain toimprove the reliability of the data transmission.

For the ease of understanding, a simple instruction on how to scheduleduplicated data to different physical carriers will be given incombination with FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the PDCP layer has a splitbearer duplication function, and the data process of the PDCP SDU1 isduplicated and encapsulated into a PDCP PDU1 and a PDCP PDU2; and thePDCP PDU1 and the PDCP PDU2 have the same content, i.e., the datapayload and header of the bearer are the same. The PDCP PDU1 and thePDCP PDU2 are respectively mapped to different RLC entities, and thePDCP PDU1 and the PDCP PDU2 are placed into different logical channels(logical channel 1 and logical channel 2) by the RLC entities. Inresponse to knowing which logical channels transmit the duplicated dataof a same PDCP PDU, the MAC transmits these duplicated data on differentcarriers via different Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) entities,e.g., the MAC transmits the duplicated data borne in the logical channel1 on a physical carrier 1 via an HARQ entity 1, and transmits theduplicated data borne in the logical channel 2 on a physical carrier 2via an HARQ entity 2.

In the current researches, there hasn't been a clear solution on how toconfigure a duplicated-data transmission function of a PDCP entity andhow to establish a corresponding bearer.

It is understood by a person skilled in the art that an uplink PDCP dataduplication function is configured based on an RB, i.e., different RBsmay configure PDCP duplicated-data transmission or may also notconfigure the PDCP duplicated-data transmission.

The RB is a generic term for a series of protocol entities andconfigurations allocated to UE, including a PDCP protocol entity, an RLCprotocol entity, and a series of resources allocated by an MAC and aPHY. The RB includes an SRB and a DRB. The SRB is a channel for actuallytransmitting a signaling message of a system, and the DRB is a channelfor actually transmitting user data.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a method 100 fortransmitting data according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shownin FIG. 3, the method 100 includes the following operations.

At S110, a terminal device receives semi-static configurationinformation sent by a network device, the semi-static configurationinformation being used for indicating an initial state of aduplicated-data transmission function of a PDCP entity corresponding toan RB, and the initial state including an activated state or adeactivated state.

At S120, the terminal device establishes a first RB according to thesemi-static configuration information.

Specifically, the network device may configure for the terminal devicean initial state of a duplicated-data transmission function of a PDCPentity corresponding to a to-be-established RB. For example, the networkdevice may determine the initial state according to whether a currentservice has a reliability demand on the data transmission or not. Undera condition in which the reliability demand on the data transmission ishigh, the network device may notify the terminal device of configuringthe initial state to be the activated state, i.e., an RB to beestablished by the terminal device finally may transmit duplicated data,e.g., a PDCP entity of an established RB is associated with multiple RLCentities. Under a condition in which the reliability demand on the datatransmission is not high, the network device may also notify theterminal device of configuring the initial state to be the deactivatedstate, i.e., an RB to be established by the terminal device finally maytransmit non-duplicated data, e.g., a PDCP entity of an established RBmay be associated with multiple RLC entities. In this case, the terminaldevice may determine independently to use at least one RLC entity amongthe multiple RLC entities to transmit the non-duplicated data, and thenetwork device may also instruct the terminal device to transmit thenon-duplicated data via at least one RLC entity among the multiple RLCentities. Additionally, the terminal device may also associate a PDCPentity of the to-be-established RB with one RLC entity, and the terminaldevice may directly use this RLC entity to transmit the non-duplicateddata.

Therefore, by adopting the method for transmitting data in thisembodiment of the disclosure, a bearer established based on theconfiguration of the network device helps to improve the reliability ofthe data transmission.

It is to be understood that the semi-static configuration informationmay be understood as radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The networkdevice establishes a corresponding bearer via the semi-staticconfiguration information, which indicates that a state of aduplicated-data transmission function of a PDCP entity corresponding toan RB within a certain time is fixed. If the network device does notgive a further indication to the terminal device within a certain time,the terminal device may transmit data in the initial state of theduplicated-data transmission function of the PDCP entity correspondingto the RB configured by the network device to the terminal device. Thatis, if the state of a duplicated-data transmission function of a PDCPentity corresponding to an RB configured by the network device to theterminal device is the deactivated state, the terminal device maytransmit non-duplicated data via the RB all the time within a certaintime, or if the state of a duplicated-data transmission function of aPDCP entity corresponding to an RB configured by the network device tothe terminal device is the activated state, the terminal device maytransmit the duplicated data via the RB all the time within a certaintime.

It is to be further understood that when the duplicated data aretransmitted, the PDCP corresponding to an RB may correspond to multipleRLC entities, which is also mentioned above. For the ease ofdescription, a part of the following embodiments take corresponding twoRLC entities as an example, and the embodiments of the disclosure arenot limited to this.

In order to further improve the flexibility of data transmission, inthis embodiment of the disclosure, the method may further include: theterminal device receives switch information sent by the network device,the switch information being used for instructing to switch a state ofduplicated-data transmission of a PDCP entity corresponding to the firstRB; and the terminal device sends data to the network device accordingto the switch information.

Specifically, the network device may dynamically adjust a state ofduplicated-data transmission of a PDCP entity corresponding to an RBafter a certain time according to conditions such as the present channelquality. For example, it is found by the network device after a certaintime that the transmission quality of a RB is bad, and supposing thatthe state configured by the RB formerly is the deactivated state, thenetwork device may indicate the terminal device that the RB may beswitched to be in the activated state; that is, the network device mayinstruct the RB to enable the duplicated-data transmission function,i.e., the RB may be used by the terminal device to transmit theduplicated data to guarantee the reliability of the data transmission.or, it is found by the network device after a certain time that thetransmission quality of a

RB is very good, and supposing that the PDCP configured formerly andcorresponding to the RB is associated with two RLC entities, the networkdevice may indicate the terminal device that the RB may be switched tobe in the deactivated state; that is, the network device may instructthe RB to stop using the duplicated-data transmission function, and theterminal device may transmit the non-duplicated data by using either RLCentity in the two RLC entities.

It is to be understood that the above are described with the networkdevice dynamically adjusting one RB as an example. The network devicemay also dynamically adjust states of duplicated-data transmission ofPDCP entities corresponding to multiple RBs.

Specifically, the network device may directly instruct a RBs whether toenable the duplicated-data transmission function. For example, thenetwork device may indicate multiple RBs through a bitmap. The networkdevice may agree with the terminal device in advance that a bit is usedto instruct an RB whether to enable the duplicated-data transmissionfunction or not. For example, “1” indicates that the RB enables theduplicated-data transmission function, that is, the RB may be used bythe terminal device to transmit duplicated data; and “0” indicates thatthe RB stops the duplicated-data transmission function, that is, the RBmay be used by the terminal device to transmit non-duplicated data. Thenetwork device may send a piece of indication information to theterminal device, and a bit in the indication information is usedindependently to indicate whether the RB enables the duplicated-datatransmission function or not. The network device may further reuse onebit in the indication information, that is, the bit is originallypresent in the indication information and is used for indicating otherinformation but may simultaneously indicate the RB whether to enable theduplicated-data transmission function or not. Likewise, if the networkdevice needs to indicate multiple RBs on whether to enable theduplicated-data transmission function or not, a bitmap may be used bythe network device. The number of bits in the bitmap represents thenumber of RBs indicated by the network device to the terminal device,and each bit in the bitmap is used for instructing the represented RBwhether to enable the duplicated-data transmission function or not. Forexample, at most eight DRBs are provided in wireless communication ingeneral, and an 8-bit bitmap may be used. The eight DRBs may be mappedto the bitmap in advance, i.e., each bit in the bitmap represents oneDRB of the eight DRBs, and such a mapping relationship is known to thenetwork device and the terminal device in advance; in this way, afterthe terminal device receives the bitmap, the terminal device may check,according to such a mapping relationship, whether a DRB represented byeach bit enables the duplicated-data transmission function or not.

The network device may further send an identifier of at least one RB tothe terminal device, and the identifier of each RB in the at least oneRB is used for instructing a corresponding RB to enable theduplicated-data transmission function, or the identifier of each RB isused for instructing a corresponding RB to stop using theduplicated-data transmission function.

Specifically, the network device and the terminal device may agree inadvance that an identifier of an RB sent by the network device to theterminal device indicates that the duplicated-data transmission functionmay be used by the RB or an identifier of an RB sent by the networkdevice to the terminal device indicates that the duplicated-datatransmission function may not be used by the RB. After the networkdevice determines which RBs may use the duplicated-data transmissionfunction or which RBs may not use the duplicated-data transmissionfunction, the network device may send identifiers of these RBs to theterminal device; and upon the reception of the identifiers of these RBs,the terminal device knows, according to the agreed rules, which RBs mayuse the duplicated-data transmission function and which RBs may not usethe duplicated-data transmission function, and thus the terminal devicemay use corresponding RBs to send the duplicated data or thenon-duplicated data.

It is to be understood that the above two indication manners are merelyschematic description, to which the embodiments of the disclosure arenot limited. Any manner for indicating whether an RB enables theduplicated-data transmission function or not is within the protectionscope of the embodiments of the disclosure.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is the activatedstate, and the operation that the terminal device sends data to thenetwork device according to the switch information includes: theterminal device sends non-duplicated data to the network device via afirst RLC entity, the first RLC entity being among multiple RLC entitiescorresponding to a PDCP entity that corresponds to the first RB.

Specifically, if the network device indicates the terminal device thatthe state of an RB is switched from the activated state to thedeactivated state, i.e., it is indicated that the RB stops using theduplicated-data transmission function, and what transmitted by theterminal device by using the RB in the previous time is the duplicateddata, the PDCP entity corresponding to the RB corresponds to two RLCentities intrinsically; and upon the reception of the indication of thenetwork device, the terminal device may transmit the non-duplicated databy using one or more RLC entities among the multiple RLC entitiescorresponding to the PDCP entity that corresponds to the RB.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the method further includes: theterminal device receives indication information, the indicationinformation being used for indicating the first RLC entity.

The terminal device may independently determine, based on certain rules,which RLC entities among the multiple RLC entities are used to transmitnon-duplicated data. The network device may also send an indication tothe terminal device to indicate which RLC entities among the multipleRLC entities are used to transmit non-duplicated data. The networkdevice may further send an indication to the terminal device to indicatewhich RLC entities among the multiple RLC entities cannot be used totransmit non-duplicated data, and the terminal device may use other RLCentities among the multiple RLC entities to transmit non-duplicateddata. The terminal device may further release the RLC entities, whichare not used for transmitting the non-duplicated data, among themultiple RLC entities.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is thedeactivated state, and the operation that the terminal device sends datato the network device according to the switch information includes:under a condition where a PDCP entity corresponding to the first RBcorresponds to multiple RLC entities, the terminal device sendsduplicated data to the network device via at least two RLC entitiesamong the multiple RLC entities.

If the default state configured by the RB is to stop using theduplicated-data transmission function, it may be understood as that theRB transmits non-duplicated data previously all the time. In such acase, the network may configure for the RB that one PDCP corresponds tomultiple RLC entities. That is, the network may make multiple RLCentities correspond to the PDCP entity corresponding to the RB. However,the network does not use the multiple RLC entities to transmitduplicated data at all previously but transmits non-duplicated data,e.g., the terminal device may transmit the non-duplicated data by usingone RLC entity or more RLC entities among the multiple RLC entitiescorresponding to the PDCP that corresponds to the RB. As a result, whenthe network device instructs the RB to enable the duplicated-datatransmission function, the terminal device may directly use a part orall of the RLC entities among the multiple RLC entities to transmitduplicated data.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is thedeactivated state, and the operation that the terminal device sends datato the network device according to the switch information includes:under a condition where a PDCP entity corresponding to the first RBcorresponds to one RLC entity, the terminal device receives indicationinformation sent by the network device, the indication informationindicating other at least one RLC entity for transmitting duplicateddata; and the terminal device sends the duplicated data to the networkdevice via the RLC entity and the at least one RLC entity.

Specifically, the indication information may be an identifier of alogical channel corresponding to an RLC entity or some RLC entities.That is, the network device may agree in advance that as long as theterminal device receives an identifier of a logical channel, it may beindicated that the RLC entity of the logical channel may be associatedwith a PDCP of a RB. Alternatively, the network device may also agree inadvance that as long as the terminal device receives an identifier of alogical channel, it may be indicated that an RLC entity corresponding toa logical channel except for this logical channel may be associated witha RLC entity.

Likewise, it may also be explicitly indicated that an RLC entitycorresponding to a logical channel may be associated with a PDCP of aRB. Supposing that the terminal device may agree “1” to indicate alogical channel 0 and “0” to indicate a logical channel 1, the terminaldevice may know that an RLC entity corresponding to a logical channelmay be associated with a PDCP entity of a RB when the terminal devicereceives indication information relevant to the RB.

It is to be understood that the above are described with “0” and “1” asan example, and the specific value of each bit may further be from a setof values and is not limited to “0” and “1”, e.g., “0” and “2” may berespectively used to represent a logical channel 0 to a logical channel2, which is not limited by this embodiment of the disclosure. Moreover,the meanings of the above values are also not limited.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the operation that the terminaldevice receives switch information sent by the network device includes:the terminal device receives, via an MAC CE, the switch information sentby the network device.

It is to be understood that the switch information in this embodiment ofthe disclosure may be carried in MAC signaling, and the first indicationinformation may also be carried in signaling at other layers, such asPHY signaling, and RLC signaling, which is not limited by thisembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a method 200 fortransmitting data according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shownin FIG. 4, the method 200 includes the following operations.

At S210, a network device sends semi-static configuration information toa terminal device, the semi-static configuration information being usedfor indicating an initial state of a duplicated-data transmissionfunction of a PDCP entity corresponding to an RB, and the initial stateincluding an activated state or a deactivated state.

The duplicated-data transmission function of the PDCP configured by thenetwork helps to improve the reliability of data transmission.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the method 200 further includes:the network device sends switch information to the terminal device, theswitch information being used for indicating to switch a state of aduplicated-data transmission function of a PDCP entity corresponding toa first RB.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is the activatedstate, and the method further includes: the network device receivesnon-duplicated data from the terminal device via a first RLC entity, thefirst RLC entity being among multiple RLC entities corresponding to aPDCP entity that corresponds to the first RB.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the method further includes: thenetwork device sends indication information to the terminal device, theindication information being used for indicating the first RLC entity.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is thedeactivated state, and the method further includes: under a conditionwhere a PDCP entity corresponding to the first RB corresponds tomultiple RLC entities, the network device receives duplicated data fromthe terminal device via at least two RLC entities among the multiple RLCentities.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is thedeactivated state, and the method further includes: under a conditionwhere a PDCP entity corresponding to the first RB corresponds to one RLCentity, the network device may send indication information to theterminal device, the indication information indicating other at leastone RLC entity; and the network device may receive duplicated data fromthe terminal device via the RLC entity and the at least one RLC entity,.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the operation that the networkdevice sends switch information to the terminal device includes: thenetwork device sends the switch information to the terminal device viaan MAC CE.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the RB includes a DRB and/or anSRB.

It is to be understood that interaction between the network device andthe terminal device as well as related properties, functions and thelike described from the network device side correspond to relatedproperties, functions and the like of the terminal device. The relevantcontents have been described in detail in the method 100, and will notbe repeated for briefness.

It is to be further understood that, in various embodiments of thedisclosure, a sequence number of each process does not mean an executionsequence and the execution sequence of each process may be determined byits function and an internal logic and may not form any limit to animplementation process of the embodiments of the disclosure.

The above describes the method for transmitting data according to theembodiment of the disclosure in detail. Hereinafter, an apparatus fortransmitting data according to an embodiment of the disclosure will bedescribed in combination with FIG. 5 to FIG. 8. The technicalcharacteristics described in the method embodiment are applied to thefollowing apparatus embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a terminal device 300according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, theterminal device 300 includes a first receiving unit 310 and anestablishment unit 320.

The first receiving unit 310 is configured to receive semi-staticconfiguration information sent by a network device, the semi-staticconfiguration information being used for indicating an initial state ofa duplicated-data transmission function of a PDCP entity correspondingto an RB, and the initial state including an activated state or adeactivated state.

The establishment unit 320 is configured to establish a first RBaccording to the semi-static configuration information.

Therefore, the terminal device in this embodiment of the disclosurehelps to improve the reliability of data transmission. In thisembodiment of the disclosure, the first RB includes one PDCP entity andmultiple RLC entities corresponding to the PDCP entity.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is thedeactivated state, and the first RB includes one PDCP entity andmultiple RLC entities corresponding to the PDCP entity.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the terminal device 300 furtherincludes: a second receiving unit, configured to receive switchinformation sent by the network device, the switch information beingused for indicating to switch a state of duplicated-data transmission ofa PDCP entity corresponding to the first RB; and a sending unit,configured to send data to the network device according to the switchinformation.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is the activatedstate, and the sending unit is configured to: send non-duplicated datato the network device via a first RLC entity, the first RLC entity beingamong multiple RLC entities corresponding to a PDCP entity thatcorresponds to the first RB.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the terminal device 300 furtherincludes: a second receiving unit, configured to receive indicationinformation, the indication information being used for indicating thefirst RLC entity.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is thedeactivated state, and the sending unit is configured to: send, under acondition where a PDCP entity corresponding to the first RB correspondsto multiple RLC entities, duplicated data to the network device via atleast two RLC entities among the multiple RLC entities.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is thedeactivated state, and the sending unit is configured to: send, under acondition where a PDCP entity corresponding to the first RB correspondsto one RLC entity, receive indication information sent by the networkdevice, the indication information indicating other at least one RLCentity for transmitting duplicated data; and send the duplicated data tothe network device via the one RLC entity and the at least one RLCentity.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first receiving unit isconfigured to: receives, via an MAC CE, the switch information sent bythe network device.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the RB includes a DRB and/or anSRB.

It is to be understood that the terminal device 300 according to theembodiment of the disclosure may be the terminal device in the methodembodiment of the disclosure and the above-mentioned and otheroperations and/or functions of each unit in the terminal device 300 areadopted to implement the corresponding flows executed by the terminaldevice in the method in FIG. 3 respectively and will not be elaboratedherein for simplicity.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a network device 400according to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, thenetwork device 400 includes: a determination unit 410 and a firstsending unit 420.

The determination unit 410 is configured to determine semi-staticconfiguration information, the semi-static configuration informationbeing used for indicating an initial state of a duplicated-datatransmission function of a PDCP entity corresponding to an RB, and theinitial state including an activated state or a deactivated state.

The first sending unit 420 is configured to send the semi-staticconfiguration information to a terminal device.

Therefore, the terminal device in this embodiment of the disclosurehelps to improve the reliability of data transmission.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the network device 400 furtherincludes: a second sending unit, configured to send switch informationto the terminal device, the switch information being used for indicatingto switch a state of a duplicated-data transmission function of a PDCPentity corresponding to a first RB.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is the activatedstate, and the network device 400 further includes: a receiving unit,configured to receive, via a first RLC entity among multiple RLCentities corresponding to a PDCP entity that corresponds to the firstRB, non-duplicated data sent by the terminal device.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the network device 400 furtherincludes: a third sending unit, configured to send indicationinformation to the terminal device, the indication information beingused for indicating the first RLC entity.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is thedeactivated state, and the network device 400 further includes: areceiving unit, configured to receive, under a condition where a PDCPentity corresponding to the first RB corresponds to multiple RLCentities, duplicated data from the terminal device via at least two RLCentities among the multiple RLC entities.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the initial state is thedeactivated state, and the network device 400 further includes: a thirdsending unit, configured to send, under a condition where a PDCP entitycorresponding to the first RB corresponds to one RLC entity, indicationinformation to the terminal device, the indication informationindicating other at least one RLC entity; and a receiving unit,configured to receive, via the one RLC entity and the at least one RLCentity, duplicated data sent by the terminal device.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the first sending unit isconfigured to: send the switch information to the terminal device via anMAC CE.

In this embodiment of the disclosure, the RB includes a DRB and/or anSRB.

It is to be understood that the network device 400 according to theembodiment of the disclosure may be the network device in the methodembodiment of the disclosure and the above-mentioned and otheroperations and/or functions of each unit in the network device 400 areadopted to implement the corresponding flows executed by the networkdevice in the method in FIG. 4 respectively and will not be elaboratedherein for simplicity.

As shown in FIG. 7, an embodiment of the disclosure further provides aterminal device 500 for transmitting data. The terminal device 500 maybe the terminal device 300 in FIG. 5, and may be configured to executecontents of the terminal device corresponding to the method 100 in FIG.3. The terminal device 500 includes: an input interface 510, an outputinterface 520, a processor 530 and a memory 540. The input interface510, the output interface 520, the processor 530 and the memory 540 maybe connected through a bus system. The memory 540 is configured to storea program, an instruction or a code. The processor 530 is configured toexecute the program, instruction or code in the memory 540 to controlthe input interface 510 to receive a signal, control the outputinterface 520 to send a signal and complete operations in the methodembodiments.

Therefore, the terminal device in this embodiment of the disclosurehelps to improve the reliability of data transmission.

It is to be understood that in this embodiment of the disclosure, theprocessor 530 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor 530may further be other universal processors, a Digital Signal Processor(DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and a FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices,discrete gates or transistor logic devices, and discrete hardwarecomponent, etc. The universal processor may be a microprocessor or theprocessor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

The memory 540 may include a Read Only Memory (ROM) and a Random AccessMemory (RAM) and provides instructions and data for the processor 530. Apart of the memory 540 may further include a nonvolatile RAM. Forexample, the memory 540 may further store information on a type of astorage device.

During an implementation process, the operations of the methods may beaccomplished by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor530 or an instruction in a software form. Operations of the methodsdisclosed in combination the embodiments of the disclosure may bedirectly executed and accomplished by a hardware processor, or may beexecuted and accomplished using a combination of hardware and softwaremodules in the processor. The software module may be located in a maturestorage medium in the art, such as a RAM, a flash memory, an ROM, aProgrammable ROM (PROM), an Electrically EPROM (EEPROM) or a register.The storage medium may be located in the memory 540. The processor 530may read information from the memory 540 and complete the operations ofthe foregoing methods in combination with the hardware of the processor.In order to avoid repetition, the above will not be described herein indetail.

In a specific implementation mode, the first receiving unit and thesecond receiving unit in the terminal device 300 may be implemented bythe input interface 510 in FIG. 7, and the sending unit in the terminaldevice 300 may be implemented by the output interface 520 in FIG. 7. Theestablishment unit in the terminal device 300 may be implemented by theprocessor 530 in FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 8, an embodiment of the disclosure further provides anetwork device 600 for transmitting data. The network device 600 may bethe network device 400 in FIG. 6, and may be configured to executecontents of the network device corresponding to the method 200 in FIG.4. The network device 600 includes: an input interface 610, an outputinterface 620, a processor 630 and a memory 640. The input interface610, the output interface 620, the processor 630 and the memory 640 maybe connected through a bus system. The memory 640 is configured to storea program, an instruction or a code. The processor 630 is configured toexecute the program, instruction or code in the memory 640 to controlthe input interface 610 to receive a signal, control the outputinterface 620 to send a signal and complete operations in the methodembodiments.

Therefore, the network device in this embodiment of the disclosure helpsto improve the reliability of data transmission.

It is to be understood that in this embodiment of the disclosure, theprocessor 630 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processor 630may further be other universal processors, a Digital Signal Processor(DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and a FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices,discrete gates or transistor logic devices, and discrete hardwarecomponent, etc. The universal processor may be a microprocessor or theprocessor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

The memory 640 may include a Read Only Memory (ROM) and a Random AccessMemory (RAM) and provide instructions and data for the processor 630. Apart of the memory 640 may further include a nonvolatile RAM. Forexample, the memory 640 may further store information on a type of astorage device.

During an implementation process, the operations of the methods may beaccomplished by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor630 or an instruction in a software form. Operations of the methodsdisclosed in combination the embodiments of the disclosure may bedirectly executed and accomplished by a hardware processor or may beexecuted and accomplished using a combination of hardware and softwaremodules in the processor. The software module may be located in a maturestorage medium in the art, such as a RAM, a flash memory, an ROM, aProgrammable ROM (PROM), an Electrically EPROM (EEPROM) or a register.The storage medium may be located in the memory 640. The processor 630may read information from the memory 640 and complete the operations ofthe foregoing methods in combination with the hardware of the processor.In order to avoid repetition, the above will not be described herein indetail.

In a specific implementation mode, the first sending unit, the secondsending unit and the third sending unit in the network device 400 may beimplemented by the output interface 620 in FIG. 8, and the receivingunit in the network device 400 may be implemented by the input interface610 in FIG. 8. The determination unit in the network device 400 may beimplemented by the processor 630 in FIG. 8.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that, in combinationwith the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in thisspecification, units and algorithm steps may be implemented byelectronic hardware, computer software or a combination of computersoftware and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed byhardware or software depends on particular applications and designconstraint conditions of the technical solutions. A person skilled inthe art may use different methods to implement the described functionsfor each particular application, but it should not be considered thatthe implementation goes beyond the scope of the disclosure.

It may be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, forthe purpose of convenient and brief description, for a detailed workingprocess of the foregoing system, apparatus, and unit, reference may bemade to a corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, anddetails are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it is tobe understood that the disclosed system, apparatuses, and methods may beimplemented in other manners. For example, the described apparatusembodiments are merely exemplary. For example, the unit division ismerely logical function division and may be other division in actualimplementation. For example, a plurality of units or components may becombined or integrated into other system, or some features may beignored or not performed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutualcouplings or direct couplings or communication connections may beimplemented through some interfaces. The indirect couplings orcommunication connections between the apparatuses or units may beimplemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physicallyseparate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units,may be located in one position, or may be distributed on a plurality ofnetwork units. Some or all of the units may be selected according toactual needs to achieve the objectives of the solutions of theembodiments.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the disclosure maybe integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may existalone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

When the functions are implemented in the form of a software functionalunit and sold or used as an independent product, the functions may bestored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such anunderstanding, the technical solutions of the disclosure essentially, orthe part contributing to the prior art, or some of the technicalsolutions may be implemented in a form of a software product. Thesoftware product is stored in a storage medium and includes severalinstructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personalcomputer, a server, or a network device) to perform all or some of thesteps of the methods described in the embodiments of the disclosure. Theforegoing storage medium includes any medium that can store programcode, such as a U disk, a removable hard disk, an ROM, an RAM, amagnetic disk, or an optical disc.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementation manners ofthe disclosure but are not intended to limit the protection scope of thedisclosure. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a personskilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in thedisclosure shall fall within the protection scope of the disclosure.Therefore, the protection scope of the disclosure shall be subject tothe protection scope of the claims.

1. A method for transmitting data, comprising: receiving, by a terminaldevice, radio resource control (RRC) signaling from a network device,the RRC signaling being used for indicating an initial state of aduplicated-data transmission function of at least one Packet DataConvergence Protocol (PDCP) entity corresponding to at least one RadioBearer (RB), and the initial state comprising an activated state or adeactivated state; establishing, by the terminal device, a first RBaccording to the RRC signaling.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst RB comprises a PDCP entity and multiple Radio Link Control (RLC)entities corresponding to the PDCP entity.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, by the terminal device, switchinformation from the network device, the switch information being usedfor indicating to switch a state of duplicated-data transmission of aPDCP entity corresponding to the first RB; and sending, by the terminaldevice, data to the network device according to the switch information.4. The method of claim 3, wherein when the initial state is theactivated state, sending, by the terminal device, the data to thenetwork device according to the switch information comprises: sending,by the terminal device, non-duplicated data to the network device via afirst Radio Link Control (RLC) entity, wherein the first RLC entity isamong at least two RLC entities corresponding to the PDCP entitycorresponding to the first RB.
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: receiving, by the terminal device, indication information,the indication information being used for indicating the first RLCentity.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein when the initial state is thedeactivated state, sending, by the terminal device, the data to thenetwork device according to the switch information comprises: sending,by the terminal device, under a condition where the PDCP entitycorresponding to the first RB corresponds to multiple RLC entities,duplicated data to the network device via at least two RLC entitiesamong the multiple RLC entities; or, receiving, by the terminal device,under a condition where the PDCP entity corresponding to the first RBcorresponds to one RLC entity, indication information from the networkdevice, the indication information being used for indicating other atleast one RLC entity for transmitting duplicated data; and sending, bythe terminal device, the duplicated data to the network device via theone RLC entity and the other at least one RLC entity.
 7. The method ofclaim 3, wherein receiving, by the terminal device, the switchinformation sent by the network device comprises: receiving, by theterminal device, the switch information from the network device via aMedia Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).
 8. The method of claim1, wherein the RB comprises at least one of a Signaling Radio Bearer(SRB) and a Data Radio Bearer (DRB).
 9. A method for transmitting data,comprising: sending, by a network device, radio resource control (RRC)signaling to a terminal device, the RRC signaling being used forindicating an initial state of a duplicated-data transmission functionof at least one Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entitycorresponding to at least one Radio Bearer (RB), and the initial stateincluding an activated state or a deactivated state.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising: sending, by the network device, switchinformation to the terminal device, the switch information being usedfor indicating to switch a state of duplicated-data transmission of aPDCP entity corresponding to a first RB.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein when the initial state is the activated state, the methodfurther comprises: receiving, by the network device, non-duplicated datafrom the terminal device via a first Radio Link Control (RLC) entity,wherein the first RLC entity is among at least two RLC entitiescorresponding to the PDCP entity corresponding to the first RB.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: sending, by the network device,indication information to the terminal device, the indicationinformation being used for indicating the first RLC entity.
 13. Aterminal device, comprising: an input interface, configured to receiveradio resource control (RRC) signaling sent by a network device, the RRCsignaling being used for indicating an initial state of aduplicated-data transmission function of at least one Packet DataConvergence Protocol (PDCP) entity corresponding to at least one RadioBearer (RB), and the initial state comprising an activated state or adeactivated state; and a processor, configured to establish a first RBaccording to the RRC signaling.
 14. The terminal device of claim 13,wherein the first RB comprises a PDCP entity and multiple Radio LinkControl (RLC) entities corresponding to the PDCP entity.
 15. Theterminal device of claim 13, wherein the input interface is furtherconfigured to receive switch information sent by the network device, theswitch information being used for indicating to switch a state ofduplicated-data transmission of a PDCP entity corresponding to the firstRB; and the terminal device further comprises an output interface,configured to send data to the network device according to the switchinformation.
 16. The terminal device of claim 15, wherein when theinitial state is the activated state, the output interface is furtherconfigured to send non-duplicated data to the network device via a firstRadio Link Control (RLC), wherein the first RLC entity is among at leasttwo RLC entities corresponding to the PDCP entity corresponding to thefirst RB.
 17. The terminal device of claim 16, wherein the inputinterface is further configured to receive indication information, theindication information being used for indicating the first RLC entity.18. The terminal device of claim 15, when the initial state is thedeactivated state, the processor is further configured to: control theoutput interface to send, under a condition where the PDCP entitycorresponding to the first RB corresponds to multiple RLC entities,duplicated data to the network device via at least two RLC entitiesamong the multiple RLC entities; or, control the input interface toreceive, under a condition where the PDCP entity corresponding to thefirst RB corresponds to one RLC entity, indication information from thenetwork device, the indication information being used for indicatingother at least one RLC entity for transmitting duplicated data; andcontrol the output interface to send the duplicated data to the networkdevice via the one RLC entity and the other at least one RLC entity. 19.The terminal device of claim 15, wherein the input interface isconfigured to: receive, via a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element(CE), the switch information sent by the network device.
 20. Theterminal device of claim 13, wherein the RB comprises at least one of aSignaling Radio Bearer (SRB) and a Data Radio Bearer (DRB).
 21. Anetwork device, comprising: a processor, configured to determine radioresource control (RRC) signaling, the RRC signaling being used forindicating an initial state of a duplicated-data transmission functionof at least one Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) entitycorresponding to at least one Radio Bearer (RB), and the initial stateincluding an activated state or an deactivated state; and an outputinterface, configured to send the RRC signaling to a terminal device.22. The network device of claim 21, wherein the output interface isfurther configured to send switch information to the terminal device,the switch information being used for indicating to switch a state ofduplicated-data transmission of a PDCP entity corresponding to a firstRB.
 23. The network device of claim 22, wherein when the initial stateis the activated state, the output interface is further configured tosend indication information to the terminal device, the indicationinformation being used for indicating a first Radio Link Control (RLC)entity; and the processor is further configured to control an inputinterface to receive non-duplicated data from the terminal device viathe first RLC entity, wherein the first RLC entity is among at least twoRLC entities corresponding to the PDCP entity corresponding to the firstRB.
 24. The network device of claim 22, wherein when the initial stateis the deactivated state, the processor is further configured to:control an input interface to receive, under a condition where the PDCPentity corresponding to the first RB corresponds to multiple RLCentities, duplicated data from the terminal device via at least two RLCentities among the multiple RLC entities; or, control the outputinterface to send indication information to the terminal device under acondition where the PDCP entity corresponding to the first RBcorresponds to one RLC entity only, the indication information beingused for indicating other at least one RLC entity; and control an inputinterface to receive duplicated data from the terminal device, via theone RLC entity and the other at least one RLC entity.
 25. The networkdevice of claim 22, wherein the output interface is configured to: sendthe switch information to the terminal device via a Media Access Control(MAC) Control Element (CE).